The invention relates to an electromagnetic relay having a magnet system with coil, core and armature, a contact system arranged adjacent to the coil with at least one movable contact element and having an actuation element made of insulating material which is arranged in the region between the magnet system and the contact system, can be moved by the armature and extends as a movable partition essentially over the entire surface between the metal parts of the magnet system on the one hand and the contact system on the other hand.
A relay of this type is already known from DE-27 33 800-A1, in which the magnet system is arranged next to the contact system on a common bottom. The contact elements are actuated by means of an angled armature, the actuation leg of which lies approximately parallel to the coil axis between the coil and the contact system and moves a cuboid actuation part arranged essentially parallel thereto. This actuation part is at the same time the support there for the movable elements of bridge contact units. Since in the known relay the aforesaid actuation part is to extend essentially over the entire length of the interior of the relay, it acts as an insulating partition between the magnet system and the contact system. However, the insulating distances (creepage distances and clearances), which are to be measured laterally at the edge of the actuation element, are not sufficient for some applications if the overall dimensions of the relay are to be reduced to a specified dimension. Moreover, the fact that an armature arm that takes up a comparatively large amount of space lies between the magnet system and the actuation element is an obstacle to the miniaturization of the relay.
An electromagnetic relay of the type mentioned at the beginning is also known from DE-28 30 390-A1, in which a polarized magnet system lies with a so-called H-armature above the contact system and a plastic part connected to the armature has an essentially plate-shaped section for the transmission of the armature movement to the contact system. The same applies also here, namely that the creepage distances and clearances between the contact system and the metal parts of the magnet system in the edge region of the actuation part do not meet the very high insulation requirements and that on the other hand the armature with the aforesaid plate-shaped actuation part as well as with additional further actuation parts connected between requires a comparatively large volume, which conflicts with an extreme miniaturization of such a relay while maintaining a high electric strength.